Supermarket construction



April 8, 1969 ca. CLOSE SUPERMARKET CONSTRUCTION ors Sheet Filed Aug. 21, 1967 INVENTOR. 614E716 C1055 BY V A TTOEA/[YS April 8, 1969 G. CLOSE 3,437,177

SUPERMARKET CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 21, 1967 Sheet 2 of a INVENTOR.

April 8, 1969 s. CLOSE SUPERMARKET CONSTRUCTION Sheet Filed Aug. 21, 1967 INVENTOR. 64 676 C1055 BY United States Patent 3,437,177 SUPERMARKET CONSTRUCTION Garth Close, Lubbock, Tex., assignor to United Steel and W re 'Company, Battle Creek, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Aug. 21, 1967, Ser. No. 662,012 Int. Cl. E0431 3/04; A47f 9/02, 10/00 US. Cl. 186-1 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Field 0 the invention This invention relates to the construction of a selfservice market and, more particularly, relates to a supermarket construction having at least one precheck station positioned within the market before the customers arrival at the final check-out station.

Background 0 the invention It has long 'been recognized in the operation of retail establishments of the supermarket type that an important factor of profitable operation is the easy and rapid flow of both merchandise and customers therethrough. Accordingly, great efforts have in the past been made and are still being made, to promote such ease and rapidity of flow. Much of the equipment supplied for such retail establishments and, in fact, much of the design of such establishments themselves, have been directed toward this end. However, a serious bottleneck has continued to exist at the checkstands and this has been the source of frequent and often irritating delays for the customer. Accordingly, equipment which will tend to speed the flow of customers and merchandise past the checkstands will be advantageous.

Most of the equipment which has been designed to speed the flow of customers and merchandise past the checkstands has involved the use of apparatus mounted on, or useable with, the shopping cart and basket thereof for aiding the customer in removing the merchandise therefrom. This invention, however, arose out of a development of a checkstand and shopping cart of the type disclosed in the copending application of Harold J. Ruttenberg et al. Ser. No. 609,798, filed Jan. 17, 1967. Since that particular system utilizes an automatic cart unloading facility, greater speed through the check line by the customer has been greatly enhanced. However, there till exists the irritating bottleneck at the checkstands due to the fact that the speed of merchandise through the eheckstand is still only as fast as the checker. Thus, irritating delays for the customer still exist even though to a lesser degree. The problem is also partly due to the fact that on high volume days, many of the customers come to the checkstand with a full cart of merchandise. It takes the average checker approximately three minutes to check the goods in a full cart. This time may seem small, however, when there are three to four people in line waiting to be checked out, the last person in line has to wait on the average of approximately 10-15 minutes and sometimes more when difficulties are presented in payment for the merchandise. Thus, there has grown a rather strong public resentment to the known systems due to the Waste of time of waiting in line.

Furthermore, as a customer passes by the merchandise stored on the shelves, sales resistance increases as the cart becomes filled. When the cart nears being filled, sales resistance has reached a maximum and the customer goes to the checkstand and searches for the line having the shortest waiting time, that is, that line with the least number of fully loaded carts.

Accordingly, the objects of this invention are:

(1) To provide a construction and arrangement for a supermarket which will tend to increase the speed and convenience of flow of both customers and merchandise therethrough.

(2) To provide a construction and arrangement which will tend to increase the rate of flow of customers and merchandise past the checkstand portion of such establishments.

(3) To provide a supermarket construction and arrangement which will tend to decrease the customers overall sales resistance on said customers tour through such establishment.

(4) To provide a supermarket construction and arrangement which will tend to reduce the waste of time of Waiting in line at the checkstand.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will be apparent to persons acquainted with supermarket construction and arrangements of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a plan view for a supermarket constructed according to the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a partial perspective view of the floor plan.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the supermarket floor plan.

Summary of the invention In general, the objects and purposes of the invention are met by providing a self-service market construction having a main customer entrance and a main cusomer exit and adapted for the sale of merchandise. The market has a floor which is surrounded by walls, said fioor supporting parallel and closely spaced rows of storage shelves having customer aisles therebetween. A first check station is positioned within said walls and spaced from the ends of said elongated storage shelving and further spaced from the starting point of the customers tour through the market for checking the merchandise which has been gathered by the customer up to that particular point in said customers tour through the store. A second check station is positioned within said walls near the main exit of the market for checking the remainder of the merchandise gathered by the customer between said first check station and said second check station.

Detailed description In its narrower aspects, the subject matter of the present invention has been designed as a supermarket construction utilizing the checkstand and cart set forth in copending joint application of Harold J. Ruttenberg and myself, filed J an. 17, 1967, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application. In its broader aspects, however, the subject matter of the present invention is applicable for the construction of other types of retail establishments and use with other types of checkstands and carts and it will, accordingly, be recognized that insofar as such broader aspects are concerned, the construction herein of the particular supermarket of said application is illustrative only and not limiting.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the supermarket comprises a fioor 11 surrounded by closing walls 12 on four sides thereof. A main customer entrance 13 and a main customer exit 114 are provided in the walls 12.

A plurality of nested carts 16 are preferably positioned adjacent the main customer entrance 13.

A plurality of parallel and closely spaced rows of elongated storing shelving '17 is positioned on the floor 11 and spaced apart a distance defining customer aisles 18 therebetween. The customer aisles 18 are preferably wide enough so that at least two shopping carts 16 can pass going in opposite directions or in the same direction. Likewise, there is shelving 19 provided along the walls 12 of the market 10.

A plurality of checkstands 21 are supported by the floor 11 adjacent the main customer exit 14. The number of checkstands 21 required is dependent upon the daily volume of business done by the particular supermarket. This particular embodiment utilizes four such checkstands 21.

The discussion hereinabove has reference to a typical supermarket having a fioor plan designed in a known manner to carry out its method of operation. What is considered to be novel in the present invention is the provision of a supplemental room or precheck-out area 22 positioned preferably adjacent the final checkstands 2'1 and the main customer exit 14. The precheck-out area 22 is bounded by four walls, in this embodiment, three internal walls 23 and a portion of one side wall 12 of the supermarket 10. The walls 12 and 23 define a room which is closed off from the rest of the store and can be equipped with storage shelving to hold bagged merchandise or, said room can be large enough to store a plurality of receptacles containing checked merchandise. In this embodiment, the room 22 is large enough to store a plurality of carts in an unnested relationship to one another so that same may be stored within the room while loaded with checked merchandise.

The precheck-out area 22 is provided with at least one checkstand 24 of the type disclosed in the aforesaid copending application, Ser. No. 609,798, preferably positioned along one of the walls 23. The cart unloading station and merchandise receiving area 26 of the counter 24 is positioned adjacent an opening 27 in a wall 23, in this embodiment, through which a customer can communicate with personnel within the room and can unload the merchandise at the cart unloading station in the merchandise receiving area 26 of the counter 24. It is recognized, of course, that a plurality of openings 27 can be utilized depending on the daily volume of business done by particular supermarkets. Furthermore, a door opening 28 is preferably provided in one wall thereof for access to the room by preferably store personnel only.

Thus, utilizing the construction set forth hereinabove, a customer entering the store through the main entrance 13 may begin the choice of merchandise at position A (FIGURE 3) and arrive with a cart substantially full of merchandise at position B. The customer may then use the precheck-out station 22 by moving the shopping cart 16 to position C and having same automatically unloaded as set forth in the aforesaid application Ser. No. 609,798. The merchandise can be stored while said customer continues her shopping with an empty cart at any position within the store but in most instances at position D, for example.

It is important to note that when the customer is in position B and has a substantially full cart of merchandise, sales resistance is nearing a maximum and the customer will begin limiting the choice of merchandise to the absolute necessities of the household rather than choosing merchandise based on impulse. Utilization of the precheck-out station 22 will enable the customer to empty the merchandise from the cart and continue shopping thereafter, starting with an empty cart so that sales resistance is effectively lowered. Each customer using the precheck-out station 22 will be given a claim check for identification purposes at the final check station 21.

When the customer reaches the final check-out area 21, the cart will only be partially filled with merchandise in view of the fact that the precheck-out station 22, in this embodiment, is preferably positioned more than the halfway point of a customers tour through the store. It is recognized, of course, that the precheck-out room can be located anywhere as long as it is communicable with the shopping area and the embodiment illustrated in the drawings should not be limiting. Accordingly, the merchandise in the cart will be proportionally smaller than it would have been without the precheck-out system so that upon the arrival of a full or partially filled cart 16 at the final check-out area 21, the effectively reduced amount of merchandise within the cart will enable a faster checking resulting in less time for the customer to wait in line. Thus, the waste of time of waiting in line is essentially removed at the final checkout area.

It is to be emphasized that no customer is required to use the precheck-out area 22 and not every customer will have reason to use same. However, those who do use it can then utilize specially provided check lanes in the final check-out area 21 so that the final wait in line for those customers who do use the precheck-out area 22 will be minimized as much as possible. Those customers who do not choose, or have no need, to use the precheck-out area 22 will use the other check-out lanes in a conventional manner. This, however, will vary from store to store depending upon the daily volume of business done and may also be modified from time to time as needed in any one store.

The final check lanes 21 are preferably equipped with an intercom or telephone 28 connected directly to the precheck station 22 so that the checker may call, upon the presentation of a claim check, the precheck area and have the customers merchandise delivered at the particular check lane. The subtotal of the merchandise prechecked can be added to the total for the merchandise in the customers cart at the final check station to arrive at the total cost of the merchandise purchased.

Although a particular preferred embodiment of the supermarket construction has been disclosed above for illustrative purposes, it will be understood that variations and modifications thereof are fully contemplated.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A self-service store adapted for the sale of merat least one independent first check station within said store spaced from and outside of said customer entrance and exit zones said first check station being located adjacent one end of selected ones of said elongated storage shelves, said first check station being separated from the self-service area of said store by means defining a storage area having sufficient floor space to store a plurality of unnested shopping carts, said storage area means having at least one customer service window spaced from said customer entrance and exit zones communicating with said self-service area and at least one opening communicating with at least said customer exit zone, said opening extending down to said floor and being of suificient width to pass a shopping cart therethrough;

a plurality of independent second check stations Within said customer exit zone adjacent said opening to said storage area;

whereby a customer appearing at said one end of said selected ones of said elongated storage shelves with a shopping cart substantially full of merchandise can check said merchandise at said first check station and then continue on to the remaining aisles to gather more merchandise with an empty shopping cart and when the shopping task has been completed, said customer can proceed to one of said second check stations and have the merchandise checked and the checked merchandise at said first check station can be brought through said opening into said customer exit zone for combining with the checked merchandise at said second check station.

2. The self-service store defined in claim 1, wherein said customer service window communicating with said selfservice area includes at least one appartus for automatically unloading such merchandise from said cart and means for checking same.

3. The self-service store defined in claim 1, including means for providing voice communication from at least one of said plurality of said second check stations to said first check station whereby personnel of said store may be instructed to bring the checked merchandise stored in said storage area to said customer exit zone for combining with the checked merchandise at said at least one of said second check stations.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,345,481 7/ 1920 Davis 186-1 1,474,106 11/ 1923 Carroll 5233 2,980,211 4/1961 Richter 186-1 3,311,197 3/ 1967 Lachance 186-1 EVON C. BLUNK, Primary Examiner.

H. C. HORNSBY, Assistant Examiner. 

